The Report
by AliasCWN
Summary: After a halftrack explodes unexpectantly while returning to the base, headquarters wants Dietrich to explain how it happened. How do you explain what you don't understand?


**The Report**

By: AliasCWN

Dietrich slid the papers away from him with a sigh. He hated writing reports, and he hated reading them. They were a necessary evil to keep everyone up to date on what was happening, but he hated them, especially the ones like the one he was working on. One of his halftracks had blown up unexpectantly, while it was returning to the base. His men were the only ones around and they hadn't hit a mine. He knew who was responsible, but he wasn't sure how he was going to explain it to his superiors.

How do you explain how a prisoner managed to plant a timed explosive under one of your halftracks without you knowing until it exploded? Not before he became a prisoner, or after his escape, but while he was a prisoner under guard?

It was still unclear where Private Pettigrew had managed to get the explosives. He had been searched when he was first captured and no explosives had been discovered on his body. He had been allowed near his jeep, but not until after it had been searched and all of the explosives had been removed from it. He didn't get them from the column since the column hadn't been carrying anything like the charges used. It was a puzzle.

The explosion had come as quite a shock. One minute they were heading home after the prisoner exchange, and the next, the gas tank on the halftrack blew up. Several of his men had been burned but they would all recover. At first, they had thought that they were under attack, but that hadn't proven to be the case, it was a single explosion. An extensive investigation had revealed what he considered the only viable explanation; the Rat Patrol had once again pulled off the impossible, or at least, the improbable.

Lieutenant Umstead admitted that Private Pettigrew had been chained to that particular halftrack. None of the others had had the opportunity to sabotage the vehicle. His commanders had read his reports on the mission and zeroed in on the explosion. They wanted to know how such a thing could happen!

He tapped his fingers on the surface of his desk. After questioning the lieutenant he could see where Private Pettigrew would find the opportunity. The guards hadn't kept a close eye on him once he was securely chained to the vehicle. He shouldn't have been a threat to security. They had checked on him periodically but that was never enough when dealing with Sergeant Troy's band of delinquents. Hopefully Lieutenant Umstead had learned that lesson; it could someday save his life. But the problem still remained; how to explain the explosion to his superiors

To anyone who had ever had a visit from Troy and his band of misfits the answer would have been simple; it was the Rat Patrol. But headquarters wouldn't accept that explanation, they wanted details. How do you explain something you don't understand yourself? He could take the easy way out and lay the blame on Lieutenant Umstead, but that didn't sit well with him. He was the young officer's commander; therefore, he was the one ultimately responsible for the destroyed halftrack.

The captain yawned and rubbed his hands across his face. It was going to take some creative thinking to convince headquarters that this was an unfortunate, unavoidable, fortune of war. He closed his eyes because the light was bothering him. His head hurt and he was tired. He was tempted to delay writing the report until later but his superiors wanted answers now!

The fact that they had had all four members of Troy's team in their hands at one time or another during the mission was not making it any easier. Headquarters didn't care that they had never had any more than two at any one time. They didn't understand that only catching part of the team only made holding them more difficult. They thought that losing a member would break the spirit of the others; if only they knew. Catching any part of the team only made the others more dangerous and unpredictable. Even the lowest ranking of his men knew that if they held any part of the team the others would be close by waiting to attack.

Dietrich rubbed his face again and his hand bumped the bruise on the side of his head. He could explain Troy escaping when the Arabs attacked. He could rationalize Troy's rescuing him from the Arabs, Troy wanted to take him back as a prisoner. It was embarrassing but he could also justify losing Private Hitchcock. Who would have expected him to kick the jack out from under the jeep while he was underneath it? And the jeep had needed to be repaired. The prisoner exchange could even be explained. One German captain was surely worth more than a sergeant and a private. Headquarters had never had a problem with that in the past.

Only the exploding halftrack really required a creative explanation, and he didn't have one.

There was a knock on his door and he called for his visitor to enter. Lieutenant Umstead walked hesitantly into the room.

"What is it Lieutenant?"

"I was wondering if you had your report ready to send to headquarters."

"Not yet. Why do you ask?"

"I thought it might be best if I delivered it myself Captain. After all, I am the one who chained the prisoner to the halftrack. And I am the one who lost you. And I agreed to the prisoner exchange."

Dietrich cut him off before he could list any other things he regarded as mistakes on his part. "Lieutenant, I was in charge of the column when the Arabs attacked. Your assumption that I was dead was understandable given all of the blood on and around me." Dietrich put his hand to the bandaged cut on his head. "I would have done the same thing if our positions had been reversed. Saving the rest of the column was what was important."

Lieutenant Umstead nodded warily.

"You rescued me by agreeing to the prisoner exchange, so we can forget about losing me. As for chaining the prisoner to the halftrack; considering their record of escapes, I cannot fault you for taking measures to prevent another escape."

"But he blew up the halftrack!"

"Yes, he did," the captain sighed. "It's not the first one and I doubt that it will be the last."

"I am to blame," the junior officer stated miserably.

"No, you are not. Private Pettigrew is to blame. He's the one who planted the charges."

"But Captain…"

"No, Lieutenant, we are not going to play the blame game here. It was the American who blew up the halftrack. The only question is; where did he get the explosives?"

"We must have missed them when we searched him."

"Unlikely Lieutenant, the guards say he was thoroughly searched when he was first captured. No explosives were found."

"We took some out of the jeep."

"Before you allowed the prisoner near it." Dietrich clarified.

"Yes Captain. Our men removed nearly everything in their search for grenades and explosives."

"Nearly?"

"The guards said they didn't dump the box of rations or medical supplies. Everything else was searched."

"Rations?" The captain considered the implications. "They must have hidden the explosives in the rations. It's the only thing that makes sense. Make a note of that Lieutenant. The next time we catch them we must remember to search the rations."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant nodded.

"They must have wrapped the explosives in foil to look like rations." Dietrich tried to picture how it could have been done. "I knew they were devious, but this goes beyond anything I would have expected. How could they know we would search the jeep?"

"You said they were devious Captain. Perhaps this was their back-up plan."

"One we now know to watch for Lieutenant; it won't work a second time. Even headquarters would not have thought to check their rations. That is the answer; the explanation I shall give our superiors." The captain smiled at his junior officer. "But just to be on the safe side, I don't think you should deliver the report. We don't want to give them someone to blame until they have had time to think about, and accept, our explanation."

"I'll send a courier," Lieutenant Umstead agreed with relief.

"I'll have the report ready within the hour."

Lieutenant Umstead took his leave feeling more relaxed than he had since the halftrack exploded.

Dietrich sat down to figure out how to word the report. It might be better if his superiors were to come up with the exploding rations theory on their own. He would have to word the report just right. It would mean he had to rule out any of the other possibilities and plant the seed of the idea for them to discover. He would, of course, whole-heartedly endorse their theory when they presented it to him.

As he finished the report to send to his superiors, he wondered what Troy would think. It might come as quite a shock to him when some enterprising young officer, having heard the story, decided to blow up the sergeant's rations. That thought brought a smile to his lips.


End file.
